Geneva - Washington's delegation to the six-party talks with Iran arrived in Geneva Wednesday, officials said.

The team was being headed by William Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France- the so called P5 - along with Germany were expected to begin talks with Iran Thursday, to be hosted by the Swiss city.

The last round of talks, in 2008, were also held in Geneva, but yielded little progress.

The US and the Western powers want to ensure that Iran does not develop a nuclear programme with the capacity to create weapons. Tehran says it aims to create fuel for the country's power needs.

The Iranian delegation will be led by Saeed Jalili, the country's chief nuclear negotiator.(dpa)